- Member of Parliament
- Member of Parliament
- NDP
- Courtenay—Alberni
- British Columbia
- Voting Attendance: 67%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $148,159.67
- Government Page
- Feb/13/24 11:42:13 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague has done incredible work at the health committee and the AMAD committee. I really appreciate him for that.
I hope that some day we will have an opportunity so that those with the sole underlying medical condition of mental disorder will have the ability to make that decision. However, we are so far away from parity, given that consecutive Liberal and Conservative federal governments have not prioritized mental health. We are also far behind other countries, including U.K. and France, when it comes to delivering parity with our mental and physical health care systems, and that needs to be addressed.
With respect to the member's other question, absolutely I support that. The AMAD committee needs to put its next focus and amount of work around advance directives.
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise today on the unceded lands of Tseshaht and Hupacasath on Vancouver Island in Nuu-chah-nulth territory to speak to Bill C-62, which is calling for the extension of the temporary exclusion of eligibility for medical assistance in dying for persons suffering solely from a mental illness by three years, until March 17, 2027.
Clearly, without an intervention by Parliament, this expansion would come into effect on March 17, 2024, in just one month. New Democrats agree with the majority decision made by the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying, also known as the AMAD committee, which I will refer to it as in my speech. It reported that Canada is not adequately prepared to deliver medical assistance in dying to individuals whose sole underlying medical condition is a mental disorder.
The bill would allow more time to implement the necessary safeguards and address the capacity concerns that are expected to be the result of the expansion of medical assistance in dying for those with the sole underlying medical condition of a mental disorder. It would give medical practitioners more time to become familiar with available training and supports, while providing time for the public to become more aware of the robust safeguards and processes in place. I know this is a very sensitive and very personal matter to so many people around this country. Especially in my riding of Courtenay—Alberni, I have heard from many people about this.
We also need to ensure that we have the understanding and compassion to respect the right of an individual's choice of dignity when they have deep, prolonged and ongoing suffering. I will speak to that. Suffering from mental illness is extremely serious, and it is just as real as suffering from a physical illness. In our health care system, we clearly do not have parity when it comes to mental and physical health, and I will speak to that as well.
We must also affirm and protect the most vulnerable when we do any sort of decision-making on such a serious piece of legislation as expanding medical assistance in dying. This additional delay is necessary and needed right now to ensure that we have a health care system in place that can safely provide medical assistance in dying for those whose sole underlying medical condition is a mental disorder.
We know how we got here. The Liberal government made an ill-advised decision and did a complete 180° by accepting the Senate's amendment to Bill C-7 in the 43rd Parliament. That is what got us here. The government changed the law before any kind of comprehensive review had been conducted, and we have been trying to play catch-up ever since. I am going to speak about the important work that needs to be done, and I want us to be thoughtful in our approach to expanding medical assistance in dying.
As New Democrats, we take people's concerns and feedback very seriously. We are committed to helping find the best possible solution for Canadians in the policy of medical assistance in dying to ensure that it does what it was always intended to do. One of the biggest concerns New Democrats have with the expansion of medical assistance in dying is with the barriers that many Canadians face when they reach out for mental health treatment. Because of the Liberals, and the Conservatives before them, the chronic underfunding of our health care system has become even more apparent. It is now more than ever, as we see the disparity between mental and physical health and how people are taken care of.
We heard the Prime Minister promise to implement a new mental health transfer of $4.5 billion over five years, but he has still not done that. Even with the bilateral agreements, the Liberals are falling far short, and that would not even be enough. Everyone should be able to access mental health supports when they need it, but under the Liberal government, and that of the Conservatives before it, this has not been the reality. It is the same with all provinces and territories.
New Democrats wholeheartedly support the delay in expanding medical assistance in dying for those who have a mental disorder as the sole underlying condition, but the Liberal government needs to ensure that proper consultation happens between now and the expansion date, or it would need to be extended again. It needs to ensure that people will be protected while respecting their individual choice.
The Liberals cannot just delay the expansion either. They need to fund adequate supports and treatment options for people dealing with mental illness. Members have heard me say this repeatedly, but we need a pathway, a road map, to how we are going to achieve parity for mental and physical health and ensure people get the timely help they need when they need it.
Seven of the provinces and all three territories have said that they are not ready and have signed a joint letter to that effect, including my home province of British Columbia. That was signed by the ministers of health in those provinces and territories. They are calling for an indefinite pause on the expansion for individuals whose sole underlying medical condition is a mental disorder. That is what those ministers identified.
As New Democrats, we want to see a MAID regime where guardrails are in place to protect vulnerable populations while still allowing for personal bodily autonomy and end-of-life choices. We must make sure that people do not request medical assistance in dying because they do not have access to treatments, supports and services. This has to be absolute. The Liberals need to make sure everybody can access mental health supports. However, after nine years of carrying forward with the Conservative cuts to health care, this is where we are at right now right across the country. Help is out of reach for many people. This needs to change before medical assistance in dying can be expanded.
We know that the housing, toxic drug and mental health crises that are happening are not being addressed. I see that I do not have a lot of time left, but I want to ensure I outline that the AMAD committee heard from plenty of witnesses who cautioned the committee on expanding MAID in cases of persons suffering solely from a mental illness. I want to share what a couple of those experts had to say.
Professor Brian Mishara, who is with the Centre for Research and Intervention on Suicide, Ethical Issues and End-of-Life Practices at Université du Québec à Montréal, said, “The expert panel report on MAID and mental illness states that there are no specific criteria for knowing that a mental illness is irremediable”, and that there is absolutely no “evidence that anyone can reliably determine if an individual suffering from a mental illness will not improve.” He warned us that “any attempt at identifying who should have access to MAID will make large numbers of mistakes, and people who would have experienced improvements in their symptoms and no longer wish to die will die by [medical assistance in dying].”
We heard from many experts. The CAMH raised similar concerns.
Because I see that I only have a couple of minutes left here, I want to talk a bit about the system and the lack of access. We are talking about a crisis going on from coast to coast to coast, according to a poll done just a year ago. The Mental Health Commission of Canada and the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction released a report talking about postpandemic findings. It cited that 35% of respondents reported moderate to severe mental health concerns.
This is alarming. It should also be alarming to all parliamentarians that it found that fewer than one in three people with current mental health concerns accessed services. The report identified key barriers to accessing services as financial constraints and help not being readily available. We know that right now we are in a financial crisis, and I am sure those numbers have only gone up. It identified that one of the top stressors was between income and unemployment with mental health concerns.
We need to create a system of parity with mental and physical health. The government has not delivered when it comes to a plan, a road map, on how we achieve parity with physical and mental health. I hope in this budget, it is going to release funding on top of the bilateral agreements directly to community-based organizations as a COVID emergency recovery response because, post-COVID, we know some people are struggling financially, but the biggest concern right now and the biggest epidemic post-COVID is in mental health. I hope the government is hearing that.
I see that I have run out of time. I have a lot to say on this matter. I look forward to taking questions from my colleagues.
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- Feb/7/24 3:16:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians spend over a billion dollars out of their own pockets on mental health services every year. With the cost of everything only going up, Canadians are making a difficult choice. Do they put food on the table or get the therapy they need?
The Liberals promised $4.5 billion in mental health funding, but they are still well over a billion dollars short, even with the bilateral agreements.
Our communities need support. It cannot be left to Conservative premiers. Will the Prime Minister commit to delivering direct mental health funding to community-based mental health organizations in the upcoming budget?
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- Feb/16/23 10:10:30 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will be concise.
My constituents from Union Bay have signed a petition calling on this House and the Minister of Environment to respond to the environmental disaster that is taking place in my riding. They cite that there is significant risk to workers and the environment associated with ship recycling due to the presence of a wide variety of hazardous materials in end-of-life vehicles.
Most importantly, unlike other jurisdictions, they cite that Canada lacks standards on ship recycling and that unregulated ship recycling activities are putting our oceans, coastal communities and workers at risk. They are calling on the government to develop enforceable federal standards to reduce the negative environmental and social impacts of ship recycling that meet or exceed those set out in the EU ship recycling regulation; provide assistance through loans and grants to long-term, reputable ship recycling companies to facilitate implementation of new federal standards into their operations; and develop a strategy for recycling end-of-life federally owned marine vehicles.
This is an obligation of Canada under the Basel Convention, and the petitioners are calling on the government to act.
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- Nov/28/22 2:49:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, with the long wait-lists for treatment and the high cost of therapy, Canadians have been left with nowhere to turn. The cost of essentials like food is putting even more stress on Canadians struggling with their mental health.
When will the Liberals finally deliver a mental health transfer so that people can access the health services they need when they need them the most?
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Madam Speaker, in relation to diseases caused by mental illness, compared to G7 and OECD peers, Canada is underspending on mental health. France spends 15% of its health care budget on mental health and the U.K. spends 13%. My colleague, whom I respect a lot, talked about having no strings attached on mental health transfers, but currently, mental health spending makes up between 5% and 7% of health care spending depending on the province or territory. Mental health care stakeholders are saying we need a target of at least 12%.
Last week, the Bloc voted against a unanimous consent motion I put forward for universal mental health care. Does my colleague recognize the economic and social costs of underinvesting in mental health?
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- Nov/1/22 3:13:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. There have been consultations and I hope that if you seek it, you will find consent for the following motion: That given that: one, that the mental health of Canadians has been negatively impacted by the pandemic; two, that economic conditions are exacerbating financial barriers to mental health supports; and, three, that our public health care system is under immense strain, the House call upon the government to put into place a Canada mental health transfer without delay.
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- Oct/20/22 7:31:32 p.m.
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Madam Chair, that is an excellent question. I want to thank my colleague who had the courage to support my bill and listen to the experts on substance use, Bill C-216, a health-based response to substance use.
We need to listen to the experts, listen to the local knowledge in this country and listen to indigenous knowledge about how we move forward. Those 67 leading organizations are ready to deliver mental health now, but they are running on fumes as I stated. Injecting the mental health transfer, getting it out the door to those local experts, will save lives.
We have an opportunity to save lives right now if we come together, collectively, and not wait for everything to be perfect. It will not be. What we do know is that those organizations save lives now and they can prevent the loss of further life. We need their help and we need to listen to them.
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- Oct/19/22 6:41:35 p.m.
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- Re: Bill S-5
Madam Speaker, my colleague talked about the right to a healthy environment, which obviously we support. I come from a coastal community. I can tell the House what it is like in coastal communities today. People cannot go anywhere without finding expanded polystyrene littered and broken apart along coastal shores, whether it be in coastal British Columbia or in Atlantic Canada. We know there are alternatives to expanded polystyrene that can be used which the government is not enforcing. The same member supported my Motion No. 51, which called on the government to regulate polystyrene in marine environments and reduce it, but the government has not done anything.
I am hoping my colleague will come forward with what the government is going to actually do to tackle polystyrene in marine environments and end this environmental disaster that is taking place. It is impacting our food systems, the environment and the ecosystem that absolutely relies on a healthy environment. I hope my colleague and his government will finally take real action in banning polystyrene from being used, especially in industrial use and marine environments.
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- Sep/22/22 7:44:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, the government announced its intention to establish the $10-a-day child care program, and there were deals with provinces and territories in place within a year. Here we are a year later, and when it comes to mental health transfers, the Liberals still have not delivered their 2021 election promise.
Too many Canadians cannot access appropriate mental health or substance use services in a timely manner, either because they would be required to pay out of pocket or because they face long wait-lists for publicly funded care. The average wait time for adult residential treatment for substance use is 100 days.
In Ontario, there are more than 28,000 children on wait-lists for community-based mental health services that can range from 67 days to more than two and a half years depending on the service, exceeding clinically appropriate wait times. This is unacceptable. These are children.
I am calling on the government to be more transparent and to move rapidly on its $4.5-billion transfer. It is needed now. Mental health care is needed now.
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- May/3/22 3:12:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this week is Mental Health Week. After two years of COVID-19, Canada has seen what we already knew: that our mental health system is woefully underfunded.
Many Canadians are struggling with their mental health, but cannot access the care they need. The government promised to establish a new federal transfer to help provinces and territories expand mental health services. While the government pledged an initial $4.5 billion over five years, this funding was nowhere to be found in the budget.
When will the government fulfill its promise and deliver a permanent federal transfer for mental health services?
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- May/3/22 1:55:59 p.m.
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- Re: Bill C-8
Madam Speaker, thank you, I really appreciate that.
In addition to the toxic drug supply crisis, Canada is experiencing a broader mental health crisis as we deal with the impacts of two years of the pandemic. COVID-19 highlighted what many of us already knew, which is that our mental health care system is woefully underfunded. The Liberal government committed, in its election campaign, to establish a mental health transfer with an initial commitment of $4.5 billion over five years. However, we have yet to see any concrete action or fulfilling of that promise to make it a reality.
We know that mental health is health, and Canadians deserve to be able to access the mental health supports they need without worrying about barriers such as cost or availability. This week is Mental Health Week in Canada. I ask my colleague this. Is this one thing that we could all unite behind as parties, and have empathy for those who need support for mental health? When will the government be moving forward with the transfer?
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